A NEW smart phone application has been launched locally to help people track down where they can watch or participate in Noongar culture.

The Trakka mobile app was launched at the Walyalup Aboriginal cultural centre on Arthur Head, Fremantle as part of the city’s NAIDOC celebrations this week.

Cultural events

Sam Cutri, local musician and lead developer of Trakka, said he’d performed with Noongar musicians in the past, and even he found it tricky to get information about the events where he was playing.

Trakka will provide updates on cultural events as well as important dates, places and services that are significant to indigenous people.

• Kali Balint and Gail Reynolds-Adamson of Indigenous Consulting Group, with Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt and the council’s Aboriginal engagement officer Brendan Moore. Photo
by Trilokesh Chanmugam

“It’s basically a community noticeboard, not only for Aboriginal people but also non-Aboriginal people,” says Gail Reynolds-Adamson, director of Indigenous Consulting Group which developed the app.

“It’s designed also for tourists to get an authentic experience of Aboriginal culture”, Ms Reynolds-Adamson says, adding surveys show 80 per cent of overseas tourists want to experience Aboriginal culture, but only 20 per cent leave with the authentic experience they were hoping for.

Trakka was supported by a $20,000 grant from the City of Fremantle, and it’s current focus is the Fremantle area.

ICG CEO Kali Balint says Trakka is a work in progress.

He hopes it will eventually cover the whole of Australia, and include features like a calendar of the six seasons and an Aboriginal jobs page.

The developers believe Trakka is a world-first, and say it’s the only place where all indigenous events are covered.

By TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM